


if my heart was a house, you'd be

by Jam



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 16:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14719547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jam/pseuds/Jam
Summary: Keith and Krolia come home.





	if my heart was a house, you'd be

**Author's Note:**

> this was created as a practice for the Voltron Games! thevoltrongames.tumblr.com is where it's all going down :)  
> I had no beta for this, so sorry for any mistakes!

For once, the Blade of Marmora's base was silent.

Keith had stunned the Blades with his outburst. The mission with Krolia had worn him out so deeply, so emotionally, that it was like a dam had burst. All the raw feelings from his childhood had spilled over. So much for trying to put the mission before his emotions.

But Kolivan had taken it in stride. 

They had granted him this time to process the knowledge. 

Keith had risked his life to gain it, after all. 

 

He made a beeline straight for the ship docking bay. He was so intent on clambering into a ship's cockpit- setting a course for space and silence and nowhere- that he didn't hear someone approaching below. 

"Keith." 

The words carried a signal: stop. 

Of course it was Krolia. Of course, the one time he might have had a chance to be alone, someone had reeled him back from his self-destructive, apathetic spiral. 

Keith couldn't look at her. 

"I don't want to talk," he sighed, fiddling with the controls. 

Krolia climbed into the passenger seat behind him. 

"I'm coming with you," she said, her tone determined. 

Keith finally turned to look at her. He knew five people who could make that expression- both caring and ready to and he knows from experience that he won't get anywhere arguing. 

He started checking the ship's fuel supply. 

"Fine," he says. "Where do you want to go?" 

"Take us home."

 

-

 

The shack hadn't been visited by anyone in over a year, and it was obvious. At least while Keith was there it had taken the appearance of somewhere that was lived in- a home, even. Now there were desert grasses growing through the broken floorboards on the porch; semi-arid earth and sand scattered all over the place, and the door nowhere to be seen.

Krolia paused in the doorway, her fingers tracing worn markings etched into the wood. Keith knew what they said. 

Keith. Age 6. 148cm.  
Keith. Age 9. 152cm.  
Keith. Age 12. 160cm.

"It's been a while," she murmured, still staring at the words, as if to recall something. 

"Yeah," Keith replied, his words stuck in his throat. "It really has."

Inside, Keith's research was torn up and scattered over the floor. They had been in such a rush to go and retrieve the Lions that there had been no time for cleanliness.

Keith shoved it to the side with the side of his boot and went to go rummage through some boxes. 

"There might still be some tea around," he remarked, pulling one of them open and only finding old Garrison papers. "I never really stocked up on stuff while I was here." 

Krolia wrinkled her nose, her ears going back- one of the Galra quirks that Keith had gotten used to by now. 

"Ugh," she grumbled. "Tea. I remember that awful stuff. Your father loved it. "Didn't your father-" she stopped herself. She had clearly already put two and two together long before this, but it didn't change the sorrow on her face.

It didn't change the sorrow Keith felt, either. 

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, and tried not to look at her again. 

"What happened to him?" She began again, softer. "Is he-" 

"No. Just gone. I don't know where."

Krolia pursed her lips and nodded softly. 

"Okay." 

Silence stretched between them. it seemed almost insurmountable. 

"You were alone out here, all this time?" Krolia asked, more softly than Keith had ever heard her speak. 

"No. I had someone. For a while." 

She put her hand on his shoulder- soft, affirming, like she was trying to anchor him. Keith bristled at the touch. 

"I didn't want to leave. We were in the middle of a war when we had you. And we loved you, all that time- I loved you. I still love you, Keith." 

Keith still held back tears. It was a habit. But he turned, reached out a hand to her shoulder, too. 

He looked at her, taking in all the details of her face, her expressions. He had all this grief, all this distrust, inside him- his stomach was in knots with it. But that could wait until later. Right now, his mother was here, after so long. That was all that mattered. 

"I know, Mom."

 

-

Keith sent a transmission through to the paladins of Voltron. They must have already received word about the mission, because they were all huddled around Shiro, eyes wide. Lance was grabbing onto his shirt. 

"Hey, Shiro," he began, smiling. "Can I come by? There's someone I'd like you all to meet."

**Author's Note:**

> catch me at cosmikkeith.tumblr.com


End file.
